Olympian Manu Bhaker was in exceptional form in the women’s 25-metre sports pistol final as she shot 47 out of a maximum possible 50 to assert her dominance in the first Olympic selection trial at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Saturday. She had seven perfect rounds of 5, and three 4s.
Her effort was six points better than the world record held by Yang Jin of Korea. However, the 22-year-old Manu who shot 582 in qualification will get 0.60 point added to her score for winning the final, as per the selection procedure.
World record holder in the event, Rhythm Sangwan did her confidence some good by finishing second in the event, ahead of Abhidnya Patil, Simranpreet Kaur Brar and qualification topper Esha Singh (585).
The 20-year-old Rhythm, who shot world record 595 in the World Cup in Baku last year, had shot 574 in qualification on Friday.
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With Esha Singh and Simranpreet Kaur Brar (583) shooting big, not to forget Manu, Rhythm would have a lot to catch up. However, with four selection trials scheduled, all the shooters have the chance to leave out their lowest score.
Anish Bhanwala hugs Vijayveer Sidhu at the end of the rapid fire pistol final. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
In the current policy, there is no bonus point for world record or world rank.
Interestingly, Manu, Rhythm and Esha are in the race for Olympic berths not only in sports pistol but in air pistol as well.
In men’s 25-metre rapid fire pistol, Anish Bhanwala emerged the best, as he beat fellow Olympic quota winner, Vijayveer Sidhu, 33-27. Adarsh Singh placed third ahead of qualification topper Bhavesh Shekhawat (580) and Ankur Goel.
The same set of events will continue over the next two days for the second set of trials. The third and fourth trials will be held in Bhopal in May.
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